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There are a lot of tips about how to write good essays floating around on the web. Strictly speaking, this is not one of them. This is a list of things that I look for when I grade.
THE THINGS THAT I LOOK FOR WHEN I GRADE
When grading, I ask myself three questions:
- Does this paper actually address the prompt and follow instructions?
In other words, you need to actually answer the question as it is asked. If the prompt asks about ducks and you write a brilliant paper about clowns, you will end up with a brilliant paper with a terrible grade
Less dramatically, if the prompt says to use a certain font and margin, use it. Don't fudge it to artificially make your paper look longer, and don't fudge the other way in order to respect the page limit. When I have any doubt, I download your paper from turnitin.com and reformat it to check. Yes, I'm That Guy - Does this paper demonstrate a clear mastery of the relevant material?
This means two things: (1) you are not making mistakes with regard to the material you talk about in your paper, and (2) you are not leaving out crucial material - Is this paper's argument clearly explained?
This means that a huge part of your grade rests on your ability to communicate your points clearly and unambiguously. In practical terms: if I ever need to struggle to understand what you're talking about, there's a problem. There are three components to this:
(1) the macro-structure: on a sheet of paper, write down your thesis statement (more on that below). Then write down the topic sentence of each subsequent paragraph. This is the basic logic of your paper. That's the macro-structure. It's whether or not the big ideas are good and are connected to each other
(2) the meso-structure: what this means is: do the sentences connect in a way that actually makes an argument? Every sentence should logically follow the preceding one. If I read your essay and wonder what one thing has to do with another, you have a bad meso-structure
(3) the micro-structure: this is whether or not each sentence is formulated correctly. If I read one sentence and don't fully understand what it is trying to say, you have bad micro-structure.
THE THINGS YOU CAN DO THAT WILL HELP YOU GET A BETTER GRADE
When you're done writing your paper, tediously go through each point, one by one, and make sure that your essay satisfies the requirements.
MAJOR THINGS
What differentiates these from "minor things" is that you're almost guaranteed not to get a strong grade if these are missing, even if the paper is in some respects brilliant
- Have a thesis statement
I put this first because it's the most important part of your paper. Again: your thesis statement is by far the most important part of your paper.
People get intimidated by writing one, but even though it's important, it's not difficult. When someone asks you "What is the thesis statement?", they're really just asking you "What is the point of the paper?" Your paper as a whole must have exactly one central point. Everything in the rest of the paper will be used, either directly or indirectly, to argue that one central point
No thesis = no point to your paper. Which makes your paper just a series of nearly random assertions. Want a quick and dirty way to make sure you have a thesis? Include the following words in your introduction: "In this paper, I argue ..." Finish that sentence. That's your thesis.
Action step: on your rough draft, underline your thesis in pencil. Don't just point to it. Underline your specific thesis statement - One idea per paragraph
Your paper needs to have one central point. Each body paragraph (i.e.: paragraphs that are neither your introduction nor your conclusion) has two defining characteristics: (1) the only reason that it exists is to support your thesis, and (2) it contains exactly one major idea.
Here is an example. Let's say your thesis is that "Ducks are great" (which they are). Each body paragraph will either (a) explain a great feature of ducks, or (b) will be a distinct part of a logical chain that will, on the whole, argue for the greatness of ducks.
Here is an example of a structure where the essay is filled with (a):
Thesis: Ducks are great
Paragraph 1: Ducks are super cuddly
Paragraph 2: Ducks have weird feathers, which makes them unique
Paragraph 3: Unlike other animals, ducks can be both elegant and intimidating at once, thus making them a perfect yin/yang balance
Here is an example of a structure where the essay is filled with (b):
Thesis: Ducks are great
Paragraph 1: Animals have historically been divided into "great" and "lame"
Paragraph 2: Although criteria for such divisions have evolved over time, clearly, the best way to separate them is according to criteria XYZ
Paragraph 3: Ducks easily fulfill criteria XYZ, making them great, and possibly even awesome
Either may be appropriate, based on the essay prompt and your own ideas
Action step: in pencil, write down on a separate piece of paper a one sentence summary of each paragraph. If you can't do it in a sentence, your paragraph is too vague - Topic sentence for each paragraph
Since each body paragraph has exactly one idea (that supports the thesis in some way), you should express this idea in the first sentence of the paragraph. If for stylistic reasons you need to express it in the second sentence, that's okay too. The key thing to keep in mind is that I don't want to be midway through the paragraph, wondering what the hell is going on
Action step: like the thesis. On your rough draft, underline your specific topic sentences. If you can do this easily, you're good to go - There is no 4. Those three things are easily the most important parts of your essay. A thesis statement. Paragraphs with one main idea each. A topic sentence.
You can do this.
Action step: do it!
This stuff is really easy to fix. Small effort, big payoff. For most of you, it's worth your time to go through these.
- Don't use "correlate"
This word is almost always misused. When you use "correlates", you usually means "has to do with". "Idea X correlates with what author Y said..." When you put it that way, you can see that the real problem is that saying that "X has to do with Y" doesn't actually mean anything. Anything can have something to do with something else. This is micro-structure stuff. When you misuse "correlates", your sentence becomes indeterminate: I no longer know what exactly you mean.
What I need to know is: what is the actual relationship between X and Y? Does X cause Y? Is X similar to Y? Do X and Y come from the same source? Etc.
Action step: use the "find" function in your software and search for "correlate". Each time you find a match, re-read the sentence and find a more precise way of expressing exactly what you're trying to express. To be on the safe side, don't use "correlate" unless you're talking about a statistical regression. If you don't know what that means, just don't use that word - Instead of using awkward formulations, just use "I"
I don't mind the use of "I". Some graders and professors do, but they don't know what they're talking about. Compare these two sentences:
"It can be argued that ducks are great."
vs.
"I will argue that ducks are great."
The second sentence is direct. If you're reading this post, you should strive for being as clear and direct as possible.
Why the anti-I prejudice? My best guess is that high school teachers implement that rule in order to help you learn to write objectively and to get away from writing emotive rants about topics. You're in college, so we're assuming that you've got that down. Now it's time to emphasize clarity and directness - Action step: before writing anything, close your eyes, take some deep breaths, and tell yourself that the point of the paper is to tell me what you think. Now write that way
- If you're e-mailing me ideas or drafts, never say: "I want to see if I'm on the right track"
The problem with sending me work and asking "if I'm on the right track" is that it's too ambiguous. What it translates to is "Hey, if there is any problem with this, tell me about it now." I can't and won't do that. On the other hand, you can e-mail me and ask me to read your work in a particular way. Some examples of much better requests for feedback are: "Does this answer the prompt?" , or "Can you easily see my thesis here?"
THREE CAVEATS:
(1) I try to answer student questions, but I don't guarantee that I'll be able to answer you. This is especially the case if you e-mail me late. You don't lose anything by trying, but you should never wait for a response before continuing to work on your paper
(2) the more thought you put into what you send me and your request for feedback, the more likely I'll give you detailed, helpful feedback. I usually give pretty short answers to general questions
(3) you should never interpret any feedback I give you to mean that you will get a certain grade. Maybe the paragraph you sent me looked good but ended up making no sense in terms of the overall argument
Action step: after you write your e-mail, re-read it and ask whether or not you can make your question more specific. If you can, do it. - Skip the fancy introduction
Most people are taught in high school that an introduction must have a cute or dramatic beginning. It doesn't. One or two sentences before the thesis statement is enough. If you're a poetic or epic writer, that's okay, but that does not factor in at all when I write your grade. I am looking for comprehension and clarity.
If I'm reading a six page paper and after page 1 all I've read is flowery stuff, I assume that you're deliberately wasting space because you don't actually know what you're talking about
Action step: count the number of sentences before your thesis statement. If it's greater than 3, delete some of them. Don't worry about it not being pretty enough
1 comment:
Good advice. Simple and straight forward.
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